Current position: I now work as an Associate Research Fellow at the European Centre for Environment and Human Health (University of Exeter Medical School) on a European Commission Horizon 2020 funded research project named ‘BlueHealth’ (www.bluehealth2020.eu) which examines European’s interactions with ‘blue’ spaces (natural environments featuring water) and their effects on health and well-being.

Jolanthe de Koning

PhD Researcher in Health and Wellbeing (ESRC +3)
Department for Health, University of Bath

Start date: September 2012

Research topic: Physical activity, social isolation and loneliness in later life: A focus on rural areas in the UK

My research explores the predictors of and relationships among loneliness, types of social isolation (SI) and physical activity (PA) in rurally-living older adults in the UK using interdisciplinary, sequential mixed-methods. I focus on loneliness and SI because strong evidence shows an association with poor health in older age. Similarly, engaging in PA leads to prolonged healthy ageing. My experience in teaching older adult fitness classes also adds to my interest in this topic. I focus on rural areas because I think that the quiet, rural way of life in the UK countryside should be supported for those who cherish it.

Research supervisors: Dr Afroditi Stathi, Dr Suzanne Richards

Professional memberships/Positions held: British Society for Gerontology
Campaign to End Loneliness

Carys Banks

PhD Researcher in Health and Wellbeing (ESRC 1+3)
Department for Health, University of Bath

Start date: September 2011

Research topic: The vulnerable empowered? An ethnographic exploration of the tensions between policy imperatives in the context of learning disability social care support

Through my doctoral research I have been ethnographically exploring how government policy is interpreted and incorporated into social care support for adults with learning disabilities in the UK. I have been particularly interested in looking at policies focused on empowering people with civil and economic rights and responsibilities over their lives. Influenced by liberal values, which position individuals as autonomous, self-sufficient agents, I am interested in exploring how these ‘sit’ in relation to the fact that people with learning disabilities have cognitive impairments and so are, in varying ways, reliant on others for support with aspects of their lives.

Siobhan Mitchell

PhD Researcher in Health and Wellbeing (ESRC +3)
Department for Health, University of Bath

Start date: September 2014

Research topic: Implications of maturation timing on the psychological wellbeing of elite dancers

Current research suggests that maturation timing (whether an individual biologically matures in advance of their peers, later than their peers or at an average time) may be an important factor in how individuals cope with different learning experiences and social contexts and can therefore play a role in subsequent psychological wellbeing. My PhD research aims to explore this within the context of elite dance training and to investigate how we might use this knowledge within dance teaching contexts to promote and to optimise psychological wellbeing in adolescent dancers.

Research supervisors: Dr Sean Cumming (Bath), Dr Anne Haase (Bristol)

Professional memberships/Positions held: International Association of Dance Medicine and Science Member
One Dance UK Member
Organising Committee Member SWDTC Student Conference 2015
Council Member, South West Research Cooperative
International Association of Dance Medicine and Science Student Committee Member